South America has constituted a happy hunting-ground for the railway engineer determined to carry out his conquest with steam and steel in the face of all opposition on the part of Nature. The famous Oroya line is described in another part of this volume, but on the eastern side of the continent is another railway which is equally as remarkable, and which constitutes one of the most interesting engineering achievements in this particular field of endeavour south of the Equator. Indeed, in many respects it ranks as one of the most interesting lines in the world.

This is the Leopoldina railway, which, with its hub resting on the Atlantic seaboard, has its tentacles spreading through the provinces of Rio, Minaes and Espirito Santo to the extent of some 1,500 or more miles. In reality it is a combination of many units. In the ’sixties of the nineteenth century, Brazil resolved to criss-cross its territory with steel, and short lengths of line were laid on all sides. But the finances of the country became so strained from internal troubles and the decline in the price of coffee that money could not be spared to build or to operate railways successfully. An English company was organised, therefore, to take over a number of these individual roads, and they were combined into a homogeneous whole to form the Leopoldina system.

When the Englishmen entered into possession they found a sorry state of things. The finances were in a hopelessly involved tangle, and months elapsed before they were straightened out. The tracks likewise were in a pitiable condition of decay. They had been built cheaply, and had suffered severely from the innumerable enemies to railways in a tropical country. Lack of funds had militated against repairs being carried out upon a comprehensive or thorough scale, with the result that the whole system presented a patched and dilapidated appearance.

However, no time was lost in placing the undertaking upon a firm footing. Within two months of the acquisition of the railways a large staff of men for both the administration and engineering sides of the enterprise were dispatched to South America, with Mr. F. W. Barrow as general manager and Mr. Norman B. Dickson, M.INST.C.E., as engineer-in-chief. The engineer was commanded to overhaul the whole network, to reconstruct it if necessary, so that the lines might be capable of meeting the exigencies of the traffic awaiting creation from the development of the country.

At that time Rio de Janeiro was an insalubrious city—in fact, it was almost a graveyard for Englishmen. Mr. Dickson found this out in a very short space of time. The company lost three accountants and a number of British assistants under the malignant scourge that prevailed—yellow fever. Since those days Rio de Janeiro has made great strides and has undergone extensive improvement. The city has been rebuilt, and has been provided with a complete sanitation system, to bring it into line with the other great ports of the world. But in those days it was absolutely untenantable from the white man’s point of view, and the railway authorities were compelled to provide accommodation for their imported staff in a healthy spot outside the city, where the men underwent what might be described as a process of acclimatisation lasting over eighteen months.

The first few years were strenuous to the engineer-in-chief. He was confronted with a formidable task on all sides. The line is of metre, or 39.3 inches, gauge throughout, and had been built in a somewhat flimsy and haphazard manner. The majority of the bridges and culverts had been erected of timber, the greater part of which either had reached, or were approaching closely, the span of life. These had to be replaced by permanent structures in masonry or steel. The track, too, had to be overhauled from end to end, reballasted, provided with new sleepers and rails, and at frequent points where it was in an exposed position, and liable to suffer from the peculiar visitations which wreak such widespread destruction in that country, had to be strengthened and protected by heavy retaining walls and revetments of masonry.

Yet the Brazilian engineers had attempted a daring engineering work in the first instance. The configuration of Brazil is somewhat peculiar. A few miles from the coast, and running roughly parallel with the water-line, is a rugged range of mountains dividing the low-lying stretch of shore from the fertile highlands in the interior. The mountain ridge is not regular, but is badly broken up, forming, as it were, a succession of walls placed one behind the other. In order to gain the interior, and owing to the abrupt nature of the ascent, the line has to climb sharply, at the same time winding in and out among the clumps of mountains in a bewildering manner. In fact, the differences in level are so sudden that the track could be lifted only by means of resort to the rack rail, and other devices such as are adopted in Switzerland to ascend the steep mountain slopes.

For instance, after leaving the coast, the first ridge is met within 30 miles, and in the course of 5 miles the line has to rise some 3000 feet. This involved the use of grades varying from 15 to 18 per cent.—from 1 in 6⅔ to 1 in 5-5/9—and when first laid down the line was worked upon the Riggenbach system.

It is worth while to recall that it was on the low-level part of this section to Petropolis that the iron horse made its first appearance in South America. The short length of line, representing about 13 or 14 miles, between Maua and Raiz da Serra was the first stretch of railway to be laid and used on the continent south of the Equator.

On another part of the system—the line running inland from Nictheroy, on the eastern side of the bay of Rio de Janeiro—the Brazilian engineers were compelled to overcome one of the most searching problems in railway engineering in the world. After traversing forty miles of the level country, the mountain ridge barred their way. They realised that it could be surmounted only by some exceptional system, and the local authorities seized a unique opportunity. The Mont Cenis tunnel, connecting Italy and France, had been bored successfully, and this new steel highway through the heart of the range displaced the construction railway operating on the Fell system which had been laid over the crest of the Cenis range. The Brazilian engineers thereupon approached the Swiss authorities for the purchase of this abandoned stretch of mountain line, and their offer was accepted. Thereupon the Mont Cenis “Fell” railway was torn up, transported to South America, and pressed into service to help the Brazilian engineers over the obstacle that confronted them.

The solution proved completely successful, and the engines fulfilled their task upon the eight per cent. grades with perfect satisfaction for several years. Then the Baldwin Company, of Philadelphia, undertook to eliminate the special locomotives required on the “Fell” system, and to convert the railway to adhesion working. Recalling the fact that for every twelve and a half feet of advance one makes a vertical rise of twelve inches, such a conversion appears remarkably daring, but the experiment justified the transformation, for the adhesion locomotives, notwithstanding the extreme severity of the gradient and the sharpness of the curves, which have a minimum radius of seventy-five feet, have accomplished the work formerly completed by the “Fell” locomotives with equal success. The result is that this represents the steepest length of line upon a trunk railway to be worked by adhesion traction in the world.

The locomotives weigh forty tons, and they are capable of hauling a train weighing forty-five tons on the drawbar up this bank. In comparison with such climbs the “Big Hill” which worried the Canadian Pacific railway engineers for so many years, appears insignificant. The disadvantage of the grade on the latter system was the frequency with which trains ran away down the declivity to enter one or other of the switches or catch-points, which deflected the train or locomotive from the main track and piled it against a bank of earth. Such accidents on the “Big Hill” were nothing to what have occurred on the Leopoldina line. The great difficulty is not in regard to ascending the grade with a load, although there is a possibility of the engine failing to take the hill, and to let its driving wheels spin round idly on the metals without forging a foot ahead. The traffic destined for the interior is comparatively light. The heaviest loads are brought from the highlands to the coast, and consequently the question is to hold the train in check as it descends. Ordinary braking is useless, as, although the wheels may be locked, the whole train is liable to toboggan down the metal slide almost as furiously as if the wheels were running freely. The situation has been met by firstly reversing the engines and letting a small amount of steam into the cylinders sufficient to act as a break, and by retaining the centre rail of the Fell system and to grip it by means of a strong scissors brake. Inasmuch as the engineers are extremely careful when descending the hill, runaways are few and far between.

Now and again, however, a train gets out of control, especially when the rails are wet and slippery. To meet this condition of affairs the driver, of course, makes liberal use of sand, but here again the fates are against him, for owing to the sharp curves it is no easy matter to induce the sand falling from the engine’s sand-boxes to drop on the face of, and not between or outside, the rails. When a train does get out of hand on the descent the driver has to trust to luck to gain the bottom of the bank in safety, or to regain control of his charge. Sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he fails. In the latter case derailment generally ensues, with more or less disastrous results. Mr. Dickson had a narrow escape from this danger himself one day. He was carrying out his periodical inspection of the line from his special carriage coupled to a locomotive. In coming down the bank something went wrong, and the train got away. The engineer-in-chief admits that he had an uncomfortably anxious few minutes. He felt the train gather speed, and suffered violent oscillation as the train swung round the bends. Just as he was wondering what would be the end, there was a jump and a crash. The engine had left the track, rolled over, and his car was astride the overturned locomotive. He crawled out of the wreck, badly shaken and bruised, but otherwise little the worse for his adventure, though the unfortunate driver was killed.

In order to negotiate the third mountain range another solution of the difficulty was adopted. The precipice was so steep that the engineers could not introduce the loops requisite to carry the line continuously from one level to the other. So they had recourse to the switch-back, wherein the line runs down-hill for a short distance to a dead-end. This brings the engine of the descending train to the rear, and by giving the latter a slight push it is sent down another similar switch-back to another dead-end, where the engine is brought once more to the front of the train. In this manner, alternately pulling and pushing, the train gains the bottom or top of the level of the line, according to the direction in which it is travelling. In reality it is a zigzag, similar in character to that which was used for so many years upon the New South Wales railways, as described elsewhere.

Although on the eastern side of the continent the engineer is spared the ravages of snow and avalanches, he suffers from other disturbing elements which perhaps are more to be dreaded. These are floods, wash-outs and landslides. The rainfall in this territory averages between 90 and 100 inches during the year, and when the rainstorms break the downfall is tremendous. The rivers are converted into roaring cataracts, huge cavities are torn in the flanks of the mountains, and enormous quantities of debris are released. Should the line be in the way of such a visitation it suffers severely. It is no uncommon circumstance for a huge gap to be cut in the railway, showing where the tearing water or descending mass of earth has crashed through the track, sweeping everything before it. Nothing can withstand the force of these onslaughts, and although heavy retaining walls of masonry may serve to check their fury, they are not completely successful. The result is that when the rains are expending their violence, the engineer-in-chief is prepared for some heavy repairing work, for possibly 100,000 tons or more of earthen embankment may be demolished.

Then the engineer hurriedly completes a new survey, and replaces the track around the scene of the accident, because reconstruction, as a rule, is more economical and quicker than attempting to repair the injury inflicted.

This, at times, and in a cramped valley, is no easy task, for the curvature has to be borne in mind. Consequently the destruction often precipitates a pretty engineering problem, extrication from which depends upon the engineer’s resources and ingenious ability entirely. There is no doubt that the control of a South American railway, where such conditions as these prevail, imposes a supreme task upon a man’s capacity. Wash-outs and landslips will find the engineer out more quickly than any other emergency, because he is called upon to keep the track going at all hazards, and when a breach does occur, his own enterprise and initiative alone determine the length of the period of interruption to traffic. On such a line as the Leopoldina railway this is a serious factor, because there is a constant heavy volume of produce, especially coffee, maize, tobacco and sugar, pouring towards the coast. During a recent year floods, wash-outs and landslides cost the railway no less than, £24,500, or $122,500. This was a year of abnormal disaster in this direction, but the item generally approximates between £12,000 and £14,000, or $60,000 and $70,000, in the course of the twelve months.

The replacement of the decrepit bridges occasioned Mr. Dickson no little perplexity, but this work became all the more urgent, as the original structures could not withstand the heavier locomotives and trains that were introduced by the British company. One of the most difficult undertakings of this character was the erection of a massive masonry arch bridge in three spans upon the rack system of the Petropolis branch. Each span is of 50 feet, and the work was complicated by being on a curve of 80 metres, or about 266 feet radius. It had to replace a trestle bridge, and reconstruction had to progress without interfering with traffic. Another notable piece of work which he completed successfully was the erection of a single steel girder bridge of 160 feet span across the Parahybuna River. Owing to the velocity of the current and the great depth of water, false-work was quite out of the question, so the steel-work had to be erected on shore, rolled out, and launched into position, being held in check by cables, which proved a trying ordeal owing to the current. When brought into position between the abutments, the steel-work was lifted by means of jacks, the temporary nose was dismantled, and the span lowered until it rested in the desired position upon its supports.

Occasionally the advance of the railway has been resented by the inhabitants. For instance, when it was decided to carry the railway across the Parahybuna River at Campos, the populace of the latter town considered it an unwarranted intrusion. They were urged that the railway bridge would cause their trade on the waterway to shrink to infinitesimal proportions. Thereupon the inhabitants raided the railway, and zealously set to work to destroy everything destined for the bridge. The situation looked ugly, but the authorities took stern measures and quelled the riot, though not before damage to the extent of £40,000, or $200,000, had been wrought.

This bridge is one of the most important upon the whole system. From end to end it measures 1,113½ feet, divided into six through truss spans supported upon five pairs of piers in the waterway.

This outbreak of hostility, however, was quite exceptional. In the interior the natives have welcomed the railway rather than attempted to arrest its progress. This feeling has taken an unusual turn at places where the communities have presented the land for the right-of-way, and in other cases have built stations at their own expense. Since the railway has been under British control the expansion of the country has proceeded rapidly, and the exploitation of the soil has proved highly profitable. The railway maintains an active progressive policy, throwing out spur lines wherever the local conditions promise an equitable return, to encourage development. These branches are not built upon pioneer principles, but are equal in every respect to the trunk roads.

The amount of earthwork incurred in the construction is enormous. Ninety per cent. of the mileage of the line is carried out upon the sides of the hills, necessitating cuttings sufficiently deep and wide to carry the track. The location for the most part is along the banks of the rivers, inasmuch as these offer the easiest channels to penetrate the mountain ridges. As these waterways describe extremely meandering courses, the railway is a maze of twists and turns. In fact, the line might be described, after it leaves the flats along the coast, as a continuous succession of curves and reverse curves, more often than not, without an intervening stretch of tangent, or straight, length of track. As a result fantastic “S” windings, horse-shoe bends, and figure-eight loops abound, though the minimum curve is of 266 feet radius.

Despite its remarkable serpentine character, however, the Brazilian engineers displayed marked ability in the original location, bearing in mind the state of railway engineering at the date these lines were undertaken. When Mr. Dickson appeared on the scene to straighten out the railway, the natives constituted his sole labour, and he found that the Brazilian engineers were adapted eminently to the work of surveying and locating, being possessed of a specially good eye for a railway line through difficult country. The labour, too, in general, was found to be of a high standard. The Chinaman is generally regarded as the best navvy, but according to this engineer who has had experience in railway construction in all parts of the world, his preference is overwhelmingly in favour of the Brazilian Portugee. He takes a pride in his work, is conscientious, and performs his task thoroughly. These traits stood the engineer-in-chief in good stead in his work of overhaul, for it enabled him to produce a line which, from the point of excellence and solidity, would be difficult to rival in more advanced countries. In the upkeep of the line the same characteristics are observable. The men are tidy, keep the track in excellent condition, and leave little cause for complaint in regard to the maintenance of the railway buildings, taking pride in their individual sections. They have proved first-class engine-drivers, displaying every care, for on a railway of this character, bristling with sharp curves and steep banks, accidents are liable to be caused from the slightest miscalculation. When disasters have occurred, it has been found that the causes have been quite beyond the men’s control.

Under British management the railway has been rescued completely from its former moribund condition, greater stretches of fertile country have been brought under cultivation, and a general air of prosperity has been imparted to the territory which it serves. From the financial point of view the investment has proved a complete success, with the result that the Leopoldina railway to-day offers a most powerful example of the beneficial influences of English management among the railways of South America.